Gitchi has found her bliss!

We went over to the New Iberia agility trial this week-end just to 'schmooze' with Gitchi's sister Amy and brothers Mojo and Chase. And we all agreed that these are the the cutest, sweetest, smartest puppies ever in the history of the world - LOL!!

Driving home across the Causeway in the balmy 70's late Sunday afternoon sunshine, I spotaneously detoured to take Gitchi to the Lakefront since she hasn't had a chance to go swimming since her Big Splash-a-palooza at Rummy's almost 2 months ago. Not that I really expected her to jump off the seawall into the waves of Lake Pontchartrain like she had leaped (repeatedly!) into the gentle warm waters under the protective bubble of Rummy's with me and brother Mojo and Auntie Linda in the water for moral support. But I figured we could start to get used to it by dangling our tootsies in the water, and then later in the year when it gets really warm I could wade in with her if necessary.

But the Lake was really choppy with some prety big waves splooshing on the steps which made it impossible to wade or even get just a little wet because the steps at the water line were alternately high and dry, then knee deep in rapid succession. So I hooked Gitchi's toy to a long line and dangled it in the water just so she could watch it floating up and down on the waves. And then all of the sudden KER-SPLASH!! the little bitch had leapt headlong into the waves right on top of the toy. She pretty much went totally under trying to grab the toy, but she managed to get it and navigate her way back onto the steps OK. So I took the toy and was sorting out the line to get it untangled when KER-SPLASH!! Gitchi had jumped into the water again *without me even throwing anything for her to go after*! So I lobbed the toy over her head to land in front of her, and she repeated the fetch/dive toy grab and again swam strong and sure through the pounding waves back to the steps. By this time I was pretty much completely drenched, so I figured what the hey, if I needed to go in after her I couldn't get much wetter.

So I just let her keep going, which meant she would bring the toy up two or three steps, drop it, and then turn around and LEAP as far out as she could back into the waves. Another diving fetch and back onto the stairs only to leap with wild abandon back into the waves, toy or no toy. Just like at Rummy's, she would not leave the water without fetching the toy, but it obvious it wasn't about the fetch - it was *all* about the LEAP into the water.

When the sun had dipped below the waves and it was time to go, I had my hands full trying to DRAG Gitchi back up the steps with her scrabbling to get back down to jump in again, finally bracing her butt against a step so I had to actually pick up the soaking little beast to get her back over the seawall onto dry land. Once up there, she didn't want anything to do with the toy - I had to just keep propelling her toward the car to make sure she didn't break and run back down the steps to the water.

It's not like I'm not familiar with high-drive retrievers -- moma Gris is quite obsessive about water retrieves. But with Gris, like most retrievers that I've known/trained in my life, it is all about throwing the bumper for her to go after - if I don't throw it, Gris will stand at the edge of the water and whine until I throw it. But I've never seen a dog  so totally into the jumping in part of the water retrieve. Never.